Senior Associate/Recovery Services (Forensic Services practice)

About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates is a leading global consulting firm that provides economic, financial, and business management expertise to major law firms, corporations and governments around the world. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its combination of industry experience and rigorous, fact-based analysis that provide clients with clear, implementable solutions to complex business concerns.

Learn more about our work by reviewing our Services and Industries on our website.

Position Overview

CRA’s Forensic Services practice supports companies’ commitment to integrity by assisting them and their counsel in independently responding to allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct, and non-compliance. We are noted for deploying cross-trained teams of forensic professionals to assist our clients in gaining deeper insights and greater value more quickly. We provide accounting and forensic services as well as cybercrime investigation services.

The Senior Associate leads incident response and recovery engagements end to end: scoping, workstream direction, client and counsel management, and delivery quality. You will own matters from intake through final report, direct consultant teams during active response, and contribute to the growth of the recovery practice through relationship development and reusable methodology. This role requires someone who has run large engagements under pressure and can represent findings credibly to executives, boards, counsel, and carriers. Key responsibilities of the Senior Associate position include:

• Lead multiple concurrent incident response, forensic investigation, and recovery engagements, owning scope, budget, staffing, and delivery quality;
• Direct technical workstreams across containment, forensics, identity remediation, and infrastructure recovery, setting priorities and unblocking consultant teams;
• Develop evidence-based scoping and level-of-effort models for fixed-price recovery engagements, sequenced by client business priority;
• Serve as primary point of contact for client executives, outside counsel, and insurance carrier representatives throughout active matters;
• Own final written work product: investigation reports, executive briefings, insurance guidance memoranda, and remediation roadmaps;
• Review and quality-control consultant deliverables for technical accuracy and defensibility;
• Mentor and develop consulting associates and associates, including structured feedback and engagement-level coaching;
• Contribute to practice development: methodology and playbook standardization, reusable engagement IP, service line definition, and thought leadership;
• Support business development through carrier and law firm relationship management, proposal development, and scoping calls for inbound matters;

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (Master's preferred) in Cybersecurity, Computer Science & Engineering, Digital Forensics, Management Information Systems, Security Information Systems or related field;
• 5-7+ years in cybersecurity incident response, digital forensics, or enterprise recovery, including 3+ years leading engagements or teams;
• Certifications such as CISSP, GCFA, GCIH, CISM, or equivalent; advanced degree in a relevant field a plus;
• Track record leading large-scale ransomware recovery or complex intrusion matters in enterprise environments (thousands of endpoints, multi-site);
• Strong command of hybrid Microsoft identity architecture (Active Directory, Entra ID, Conditional Access, privileged access models) at a level sufficient to direct and validate technical work;
• Experience working under legal privilege and managing the counsel and carrier dynamics of breach response;
• Demonstrated ability to scope and price engagements accurately, and to manage delivery to fixed-price commitments;
• Executive-grade written and verbal communication; comfortable briefing boards, GCs, and CISOs;
• Ability to work evening and weekends; incident response work involves surge periods, including nights and weekends during active engagements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior consulting experience at a professional services firm, IR boutique, or carrier panel firm;
• Existing relationships with breach counsel or cyber insurance carriers;
• Experience testifying or supporting expert work product in litigation or regulatory contexts;
• Background in security assessment methodologies and compliance frameworks (NIST CSF, CISA SCuBA, CMMC).

To Apply

To be considered for a position in the United States, we require the following:

• Resume – please include current address, personal email and telephone number;
• Cover letter (optional) – please describe your interest in CRA and how this role matches your goals.

If you are interested in applying for one of our international locations, please visit our Careers site to view and apply for available jobs.

Career Growth and Benefits

• CRA’s robust skills development programs, encompassing both formal and informal programs, encourage you to thrive as an individual and team member. Beginning with research and analysis skill building, training continues with technical training, presentation skills, internal seminars, and career mentoring and performance coaching from an assigned senior colleague. Additional leadership and collaboration opportunities exist through internal firm development activities.
• We offer a comprehensive total rewards program including a superior benefits package, wellness programming to support physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being, and in-house immigration support for foreign nationals and international business travelers.

Work Location Flexibility

CRA creates a work environment that enables our colleagues to benefit from being together in the office to best deliver on our promise of career growth, mentorship and inclusivity. At the same time, we recognize that individuals realize a range of benefits when working from home periodically. We currently expect that individuals spend at least 3 to 4 days a week working in the office (which may include traveling to another CRA office or to client meetings), with specific days determined in coordination with your practice or team.

Responsible AI Use in Recruiting

We believe that recruiting is fundamentally a human process, and we are committed to a hiring process that is consistent, transparent, and people-focused. While AI and other technology-enabled tools help our team operate more efficiently, we strive to provide every candidate with a personalized, thoughtful, and high-touch experience. As CRA invests significant human effort to find qualified members for our teams, we expect candidates to invest corresponding human effort to learn about CRA, prepare thoughtful application materials, and engage with our interviewers. Read more about appropriate hiring manager, recruiting team, and candidate AI at CRA on our website.  

Our Commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River Associates is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Salary and other compensation

A good-faith estimate of the annual base salary range for this position is $130,000-$152,500. Starting pay within this range varies based on factors such as education level, experience, skills, geographic location, market conditions, and other qualifications of the successful candidate. This position is eligible for additional bonus incentive compensation. CRA offers a comprehensive benefits package, subject to eligibility requirements, which includes: medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) retirement plan with employer match; life and disability insurance; paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays); paid parental leave; wellness programs and employee assistance resources; and commuter benefits.